Forest Sounds
by Lioness Storm
Summary: Just a little Connor and Travis Stoll stuff, because they never really get attention. Plus some dryadness. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

_This is just a little plotbunny that might possibly turn into an actual story. It's for Connor and Travis, whom I've always really liked, and I've incorporated some dryad stuff in, so... yeah! Enjoy!_

_Side note: This chapter takes place about a year before Percy came to camp. I'll put the general time frame at the top of the possible future chapters. Enjoy, and please comment._

**Connor**

Connor was really NOT in the mood for being tackled by a tree. In fact, he was in the mood for nothing other than possibly smacking Katie Gardener upside the head. And pranking. He was always in the mood for a nice practical joke.

Just as he was contemplating the possibility of booby-trapping the entrance to the Demeter cabin without being caught by Chiron, something smashed into him from the side.

He tumbled down, someone else falling with him. Together, they rolled down a small hill, into a conveniently placed mud puddle. Connor attempted to disentangle himself.

"Ow." Connor struggled, trying to get out of the human knot he had tied with his arms. Where did he/she come from, anyway? One moment it looked like he'd been walking next to a tree, the next, someone was crashing into him. He turned his head to better get out of his awkward position. "Who the... holy crap."

The person who was currently sitting on his stomach turned her head (yes, _definitely_ a her) to glare down at him.

He had certainly never seen the girl at camp before. She had longish brown hair and her eyes were a dark color- green or brown, Connor couldn't tell. Her ears were pointed at the end, and her nose was slightly large and rounded. She had pale skin and an annoyed expression.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, as if she had caught him robbing a bank.

"Uh, I was... taking a walk?"

This did not seem to satisfy her. She continued to stare at him, and he wondered if there was something on his face.

"Er... could you please get off of me?"

The girl gave a start. "Oh. Sorry. I forgot."

Connor lurched to his feet and gave a lopsided shrug, shaking the mud off his clothes. "No problem. Um... was I the only one you knocked down a hill today? What did I do to be the lucky one?"

She looked at him as if it were completely obvious. "You were about to step on a bird."

"What? Where?"

She pointed, and he saw a tiny brown sparrow, flapping its wings pitifully. It was nestled into a small dip in the ground, and he would have crushed it if he'd taken another step. The girl gently lifted it up onto the branch of an overhanging pine. Then she turned to him with a slightly warmer expression.

"Oh. Well, thanks. That would have been hard to get off my shoe."

The girl looked horrified. "YOU-"

"Kidding! Just kidding! Not really! I would have felt terrible if I really killed it. I would be, like, a murderer. Seriously."

The fire in her eyes died down. "Oh. Well, if that's all." She turned to go, then looked back. "Next time, watch where you're stepping." She turned around again.

"Wait!" Connor interjected. "I never got your name."

She sighed, and there was a hint of sass in her dark eyes. "Alsêïda."

Connor grimaced. "I'm Connor. And... can I just call you Elsie?"

Alsêïda shrugged. "Okay."

Connor gave a tiny sigh of relief as she hurried back into the woods.

"Well... that was weird," he muttered to himself. Where was Elsie from? She came barreling out of the woods and then straight back into them. He'd never seen her at camp, but she seemed to know the place.

Was she a monster? A goddess in disguise?

Connor shook his head, but was unable to return to his fantasies of Katie Gardener's head covered in spiders.


	2. Chapter 2- Travis

_A/N_

_Thank you to The Golden Sun! You totally made my day. No one ever accused Connor of being the brightest camper... ;)_

_All right, then, here's chapter two... yeah!_

**Travis**

The amphitheater was Travis's favorite place at camp. He would never tell anyone else, but he rather liked being surrounded by people, all singing stupid camp songs together and roasting marshmallows. He frequently just stopped by the fire pit, even during the day when no one was around. He just liked the smell.

It was while he was sitting on the bottom row of the stands, just chilling and doodling in his sketchbook, that he came to realize that he wasn't the only one who liked the amphitheater.

Katie, _Katie Gardener_, who Connor detested but Travis secretly didn't mind, was walking over from the mess hall.

Panicked, he looked for a place to hide, feeling exposed. He tried to hurry behind the stands, but it was too late. Katie had seen him.

A smirk spread across her face. "Hey, Travis!" She called.

Weakly, Travis waved, remembering with perfect clarity the bucket of plastic tarantulas that he and Connor had rigged just above the Demeter cabin's door only a night ago.

Katie hadn't forgotten either. "So, played any more nasty pranks today? Spray-painted the strawberries blue? Put more cupcakes on top of the Ares cabin's barbed wire? Painted messages like _you will die tomorrow _inside the bathroom stalls?"

Travis winced. He wouldn't be able to wiggle his way out of this one. Slowly, he got to his feet. "Sorry, Katie. We were just having fun. We didn't want anyone to-"

Katie was steaming. "Gina woke up half the camp, the way she screamed! Honestly, you're so immature. You don't know when to stop, do you? You're like a giant wrecking ball, the way you- it isn't _funny! STOP LAUGHING FOR THREE SECONDS AND JUST-"_

Travis couldn't help it. He had the mental image of his mother giving him and Connor the same lecture, and Katie with her hair all tied in knots just... sent him over the edge.

When Katie saw that he wasn't listening anymore, she threw her hands in the air and stomped off. "Travis, this is the last time you'll do anything this stupid to us again! You'll be sorry if you don't listen!"

That evening, Travis and Connor decorated the top of the Demeter cabin with chocolate bunnies.

_A/N _

_And done! I'm not sure when this chapter takes place. Percy mentioned in The Last Olympian that Katie Gardener had disliked the Stolls ever since they put chocolate bunnies on the grass roof of her cabin, which made it seem like he'd been there for it, but it could have been something that he just heard about. I dunno. Katie seems like the type to give a big long lecture to someone who won't listen, and then storming off. _

_You like? Yeah? I hope so! Thanks for reading! _


	3. Chapter 3- Connor

_A/N_

_Thanks for the notice, guest person! That would be awkward... Yeah. :) _

_This takes place a month or two after the first meeting between Connor/Elsie._

**Connor**

The second time Connor saw Elsie, he was digging up worms.

He was on the north half of the woods, on the riverbank, where the mud was best. So immersed in his work was he that when he felt a tap on his shoulder, he ignored it. Another followed, so he whipped around, startling Elsie. She took a step back and almost fell in the river.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. Quickly, Connor reached out and grabbed her hand before she ended up soaking wet.

She looked rather stunned, so he quickly let go. There were a few tense, awkward moments of silence. Finally, he cleared his throat. "We really should stop doing this. You know, knocking each other into the mud."

The tension broke, and Elsie cracked a smile. She settled herself onto a tree root sticking out near the bank. "What are you doing here?" She asked, her mouth twitching with the grin.

He shrugged. "I need to do something with my free time. Pranks are my specialty."

A quizzical look spread across Elsie's face, and he realized that she had no idea what he was talking about. "Uh, I'm looking for worms," he clarified. "What are you doing here?"

Elsie looked unhappy. "I live here."

Suddenly, he realized something he should have figured out a while ago.

"You- you're a dryad?"

The sadness in her eyes deepened, and she turned away. It didn't make any sense. What was she so unhappy about?

"Look, dryads are cool," Connor assured her. "You've got that awesome built-in camouflage, and you live for a long time, and-"

"No, it's not that, it's... I'm half-dryad. I'm not here or there. Like, I can't always turn into my tree, but I can leave it for long periods of time, and I can travel far away from it. But I can't... There's a sort of rhythm, synch, harmony that you have to achieve with your tree, and I just don't have it. It isn't there, I can't _do_ it." She sat back with a _thunk_ on the tree, her eyes watering slightly. Angrily, she dashed away the tears. "They don't talk to me, the other dryads. I'm... too different. I don't belong."

"What about Mr. D, and Chiron?" He asked. "Don't they know... couldn't they help you?"

Elsie just gave him a blank look. She didn't know who they were.

Connor felt anger churning deep inside him, anger at the dryads, at Chiron and Dionysius, for not bothering to find out about her. He knew how it felt to be the outcast, the shadow. Heck, his entire existence was _defined _by someone else. _Travis's brother. The shorter one._ That couldn't compare to what Elsie went through, but he understood her pain.

"Tell you what," he said, his brown eyes locking with hers. "I'll be your friend. Those other dryads are stupid, not recognizing how great you are. I promise, I'll visit you and bring you anything you need, food, or... whatever."

Elsie blinked, surprised, and then her face lit with a tremulous smile. She stuck out her hand, and they shook on it.

He stayed a while longer, and they talked lightly about camp, and the woods, and Elsie's animals. Soon, he had to go, because he'd been away for a long time. But Connor didn't forget his promise, and he knew he never would.

_A/N_

_There you go, that's chapter three. I'm thinking about doing one from Elsie's point of view, just to try it out. I've written out the entire fic on google docs, but now I think I want to change some stuff. If you have any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them. Thanks!_


	4. Chapter 4- Travis

_A/N_

_Thanks for reading, guys! 128 views, wow! And thank you, Wisegirl2505, this chapter is for you._

_This'll be a week after the last chapter. Tratie, coming up next! _

**Travis**

Travis watched through half-closed eyes as Connor hurried back into the cabin, treading lightly as not to wake anyone. This was the third time this week that he had snuck off, and Travis had yet to mention it to him. He resolved to ask him in the morning.

But when Travis woke up, Connor was gone. He searched all of Connor's usual spots, but to no avail. After another round of the camp, Travis gave up. He settled himself on the banks of the canoe lake, feeling strangely lonely without his brother.

He heard a few cautious footsteps, and then a hesitation. After a few seconds, Katie Gardener slipped up to him and sat down.

"Where's Connor?" She asked, her voice devoid of the usual annoyance.

"I dunno." Travis willed his voice not to waver. "He's been leaving the cabin a lot lately, and I... I guess I'm just worried. After Luke, it just seemed like..."

"The world had turned upside down." Katie was quiet for a minute. Then, "It was so weird. He was... one of us. He was nice, and funny, and no one thought anything of it. And then, bam. He was a traitor. It's too weird to think about."

Travis nodded, not trusting his ears. Luke had been a rock for the new kids, someone sturdy when no one else was there for them. In a world of monsters, he was their sword.

And then he was gone.

The silence that stretched between them wasn't awkward, but peaceful. A time for thinking, _what the hell, who cares. _Later, they would go back to the arguing, pranking, lecturing routine they had created, but for now, it was just a break.

As if she knew what he was thinking, Katie punched Travis in the arm. "Don't think this changes anything. I'm just as messed up right now as you are, but we're gonna act like nothing happened."

"Deal." Travis grinned crookedly.

_A/N_

_I always wanted to write about Luke's betrayal through someone else's eyes. It would have been so crazy messed-up for everyone. Bleh, it's been a weird day. Whatever._


	5. Chapter 5- Elsie

_A/N_

_I'm getting my copy of Blood of Olympus today! I'm so excited!_

**Elsie**

Elsie watched Connor's retreating form as he hurried out of the forest. She felt the familiar pang of regret that he had to go. She looked forward to their now weekly visits more than she could let on, and missed them deeply when they were over.

She sighed and plopped down next to her infuriating, stubborn pine tree. As always, she tried to find the sound of the whispery singing that it gave off. After some time, she detected a faint hum, and tried to have her thoughts match up with its presence.

For a moment, she felt herself gliding in rhythm, moving through time slowly, as only a tree could, and she felt a burst of excitement. Then the feeling was gone.  
>She yelled in frustration, then banged her fists on the ground. After a moment or two, she stopped, fearing someone would hear her.<p>

Elsie felt someone watching her, and turned to see Briar gazing down at her. She immediately scooted back, fear clawing at her belly. Briar raised an eyebrow. "Still can't do it? We never thought you could. Why don't you just give up and move in with that human boy you like so much? You won't be a FREAK like you are here." She tossed her hair over her shoulder.

As usual, Briar's perky, perfect nose and slim, elfin features intimidated and cowed her. Elsie looked down at her dirty, rumpled dress and bare feet. "I'm not a freak. I was almost there this time, I know I'm getting closer-"

"To what?" Briar interrupted. "To becoming one of us? You know that's not going to happen. Your father was a human. Your blood is tainted. You can't be a part of nature unless you're a _real_ dryad. Give up already." She turned and stalked away, frightening off a squirrel.

Elsie wiped her face on the sleeve of her tunic. Getting to her feet, she noticed an ache in her back that hadn't been there before. With a wince, she stretched it out, realizing that she must have sat there for almost an hour. She _tsked_ at her own foolishness, trying not to let Briar's words get to her. That thorn bush had to be cut down.  
>She thought suddenly of the 'pranking' that Connor had explained to her. What had he described it as? 'A way to get back at the people who go around with sticks up their butts.' She didn't understand that, at first, but then he'd told her that it just meant arrogant numbskulls.<p>

A slow grin split her face as she thought of what Connor would say to Briar.

The sun had barely split the sky when she heard Connor running out to meet her. She turned and saw his face, bright and sly, with a look that said _someone's gonna get it_.

"Connor!" She called out. "Can you help me? I need to pull a prank."

Connor's face lit up with an evil grin.


	6. Chapter 6- Travis

_A/N_

I know its a crappy story. Please give much needed constructive criticisim?

Travis

Connor's face was always too easy to read. To other people, it was impossible to tell. But Travis always knew what his brother was thinking.

This came in useful the day that Travis confronted his brother on the subject that he'd been avoiding for weeks- his mysterious dissappearances.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Connor was desperate.

"Please, Connor. We've never kept secrets from each other before... Why now?" Travis thought about his crush on Katie and winced inwardly. There would be time for that later.

Slowly, his brother sighed. "Travis... You can't tell anyone else. Chiron and Mr. D wouldn't help her. I mean, they might, but they haven't bothered. She-"

"Hang on. She? There's... A girl living in the woods?

Connor sighed. "Dude."

"Got it. I'm listening. See? Listening. Not talking."

"Shut up."

As Connor explained, Travis grew more and more concerned. "There's a half dryad that's getting picked on by a bunch of snotty treed and Chiron hasn't looked into it? Does he know about any of this?"

Connor shrugged.

"Then we should tell him! Let him know! He could-"

Connor was shaking his head. "No, he couldn't do anything. This... Elsie needs to work it out on her own. If anyone interfered, it would only make stuff worse for her."

Travis knew that wasn't right. "Don't you remember that stupid bullying thing we went to in sixth grade? Tell an adult, and they can help or something."

"That was the mortal world. This isn't the same."

Still unsettled, Travis shook his head. "I don't think you're right, but... Whatever. Im no snitch. I won't tell anyone."

Connor's eyes were sad. "Thanks."

Travis wondered if his brother really was thankful.


	7. Chapter 7 ConnorElsie

_A/N_

_Hey, y'all. Sorry, I was gonna update sooner, but someone fucking restarted my computer and I didn't save the chapter I was working on. So it's gonna take a while to rewrite, and in the meantime I wrote a shortie chapter. And I'm pissed about it. :( Well, this takes place during Titan's Curse. _

Connor

Leaning against the stables, Connor watched as his campmates hurled snowballs back and forth across the strawberry field. Grinning, he spotted Katie coaxing a withered stem out of the ground just in time to trip Travis, who was sprinting away from an angry camper with a handful of snow. The camper went away satisfied, and Travis with a rather colder face.

"Hey, idiot! Come help me out here!" Travis gave him a play slap upside the head. "Are you okay? You seem kinda depressed-"

"Not so depressed that I can't chuck some snow!" Connor scooped up a handful and aimed it at the back of Malcom's head.

An hour later, the fight had turned into an every-man-for-himself massacre. Spiking snowballs became legal, and the Hermes cabin gleefully set to work creating nasty mixtures.

Connor ducked as Travis sent a snowball flying his way. Unfortunately, he was too slow and it hit him in the face.

"Dammit, Travis!" He wiped his stinging eyes. "What'd you put in this one? Lemon juice?"

"Yeah!" His twin cackled. "Feel the pain!"

It was cold out. Very cold. Connor shivered. Snowball fights were fun and all, but he hated the cold more than he enjoyed chucking snow at his friends.

"Ugh. Dude. Not cool. Imma go clean up before dinner."

Travis gave him a suspicious look, and Connor gave him the look that signified _you know where I'm going._ He hurried off towards the cabins. When he was sufficiently out of eyeshot, checking to make sure the coast was clear, he doubled back and hurried off into the woods. Elsie would be waiting.

When he saw his friend, she beamed happily and hurried up to him.

"Hey! Connor!" She grinned, but he saw the gooseflesh on her bare arms when she grew closer. She wasn't wearing a coat. He remembered specifically nabbing something from the camp store to fit her, and then giving it to her for the upcoming fall season. Where was it now?

"Hi, Elsie." Connor couldn't help but notice her hair smelled extra-nice today- No. Stay on task.. "What happened to your jacket?"

She made a face. "Rose borrowed it. Her shawl wasn't warm enough, and... well, I had something warmer." She shrugged

Connor frowned. "So she took it?" He'd thought that these petty crimes had stopped a while ago. Apparently, Elsie had neglected to bring them up.

Elsie flushed, realizing this too. "Well, yeah, but- I can handle it. I'm not cold."

Anger washed over him. That she had to pretend, to _him,_who was her friend- "That's sick. Someone needs to step in."

Her cheeks colored further. "You don't need to get involved. I'm fine on my own-"

"You're not! You always say that, and you're not! I want to _help_, and you keep... Gods, you're just as dryad as they are. They shouldn't be- this is stupid." He fumbled with the words. "I can help if you just tell me when this stuff happens-"

She was furious now. "You want to protect me! You think I can't take care of myself? You're always saying '_tell Chiron' _or '_someone can help you, you know'_ but they _can't! _Don't you get it? I've been alone for a long time before you came, and _nobody_ came to help me then. I learned how to deal with it. I don't need some arrogant demigod coming in to help, someone who thinks they're so great because they've led a quest of twenty to kill a puny snake-woman with one tail. You're doing this out of some sense of duty, not because you care. I'm just your good deed. You don't get it. You don't know what it's like to have to deal with stuff like- why are you laughing?"

Connor was, indeed, laughing. "Elsie, trust me, you stubborn brickhead, I know more about your situation than I know about the outside world. I don't lead quests. I'm just a good-for-nothing son of Hermes. And demigod life isn't a glamorous adventure, either. For us average heroes, most of it is played out here, at camp. WE watch and wait and hope that when our friends go off on a quest, that they come back- you think I like it? I don't. And if standing up to these- these bullies, is the most heroic thing that I can do here, then I'm happy to do it. Especially if it means helping you." He paused. "I'm not doing this for any reason other than- well, I'm doing it because I like you. You're my friend."

Elsie huffed, but the real anger was gone. "I- You- Thanks." She looked down. "Sorry. I don't know where that came from."

"It's okay." He smiled gently. "I know the feeling of being disconnected. I should be the one who's sorry."

Briefly, her eyes sparkled. "This is why I put up with you. Because you aren't too proud to say you're sorry, even when it's my fault."

He grinned roguishly. "It's always your fault."

Elsie

It was strange. Back there, with Connor, when she was yelling, she'd felt a sort of twinge, a spark, from her tree. It had been _feeling_ with her, just as angry as she was, and she had been excited, for a second. She had thought that she'd found the key to being one with it, the key to being a real dryad. It had been there for a second, she knew it. But then she'd lost it. Frustrated, she banged her fist against the pine. "I hate you," she informed it. "I hate you."

The tree did not respond.

_A/N_

_PLEASE COMMENT. PLEEEEEEASE. I need constructive criticism. I will looove you foreeever if you just comment..._

_No but seriously. DO it. _


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